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Lebanon Valley Rail Trail good exercise and economics

By JOHN LATIMER

Lebanon Daily News

Updated:
03/29/2012 05:27:40 PM EDT

Members of the Pennsylvania Air National Guard's 201st REDHORSE Squadron lay asphalt Wednesday on a portion of the Lebanon Valley Rail Trail between Ninth and 10th streets in Lebanon. (Earl Brightbill / Lebanon Daily News)

The Lebanon Valley Rail Trail is providing more than just recreational benefits to Lebanon County, it is also producing economic profits.

That was the news shared Wednesday with the Lebanon County commissioners by LVRT President John Wengert and Patricia Tomes, program manager for the northeastern division of the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy.

The conservancy, which is headquartered in Washington, D.C., and is an advocate for the country's more than 20,000-miles of rail-trails, recently completed an economic impact study of the 15-mile Lebanon Valley Rail Trail and the 5-mile stretch of the Conewago Recreation Trail to which it connects at the Lancaster County line southwest of Colebrook.

Using infrared counters placed at 11 trailheads, the nine-month study determined that an estimated 125,000 people use the trail annually, said Tomes. Of those, about 95,000 use the Lebanon County trail.

The study also used surveys placed at the trailheads to determine how users of the trail spend their time and money when visiting it, said Tomes. More than 500 of the surveys were returned, which was a good sample, she said.

What the surveys showed was that not everybody spends money while using the trail. But of those who do, on average they spend about $12.57 on "soft goods" like refreshments or meals purchased in association with the visit, Tomes said.

"Trails have many benefits, and one of the bigger ones is the economic benefits of trails," Tomes said.

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"$12.57 is very nice. It fits very well with trails across the state."

The spending accounts for about $875,000 being pumped into the local economy, according to the study.

When the cost of "hard goods" like bikes and other athletic equipment is included, the total economic impact exceeds $1.3 million.

The economic and recreational benefits of the trail will only increase as members of LVRT work toward their goal of extending the multi-use path north from where it ends now - at Ninth Street in Lebanon - to a link with the Swatara Rail trail in Swatara State Park, said Wengert.

Coincidentally, as Wengert and Tomes spoke to the commissioners in the Lebanon Municipal Building, members of the 201st REDHORSE Squadron, a Pennsylvania Air National Guard engineering unit based at Fort Indiantown Gap, were busy two blocks away paving a section of the trail between Ninth and 10th streets that they had constructed as part of a training mission.

The next construction phase of the trail will take it to 12th and Chestnut streets. Bids for that work are being accepted now.

Also under way is a study to determine the best way to negotiate the trail through the city from Chestnut Street across Route 422 to 25th Street, behind the Lebanon Valley Mall.

That study will start soon and should be completed about a year from now, Wengert said.

Planning is also under way for construction of a 1.5-mile portion of the trail near Jonestown that will eventually be linked with other segments as right-of-way and design processes are worked through.

The construction of the trail has been the result of cooperation among private and public organizations, said Wengert.

The first part of the trail was a nearly 5-mile stretch from the Conewago Trail through Lawn, Colebrook and Mt. Gretna and into Cornwall. That was completed in 2001 at a cost of $200,000, all of which was collected through private donations.

Since then, with the support of the county, LVRT has worked with the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and PennDOT to obtain grants totaling about $3 million for constructing the trail.

Representatives of DCNR point to LVRT as an example of a successful public-private partnership, Wengert said. And Secretary of Transportation Barry Schoch and Secretary of Conservation and Natural Resources Richard Allen plan to visit the trail in July.

While state money has been used to build most of the trail, the cost and work of maintaining it comes solely from a dedicated crew of volunteers, including many of the original board members who formed the organization in 1996, said Wengert.

"This is not a one-man show," he said. "We have a great board and a great group that helps maintain the trail and does a lot of legwork out on the trail."

LVRT is looking for more individuals and community groups to help maintain the trail and work on small projects, Wengert said.

Anyone interested in becoming part of the organization is encouraged to attend its regular meetings, which are held the first Wednesday of each month at 7 p.m. in the Cornwall municipal building, across the street from Cornwall Elementary School.

Those interested in donating to the Lebanon Valley Rail Trail or learning more about it can visit www.lvrailtrail.com.

To learn more about the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy go to www.railstotrails.org.

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